The Pacific swift is a species of bird that is part of the Swift family. It breeds in eastern Asia. It is strongly migratory, spending the northern hemisphere's winter in Southeast Asia and Australia. The general shape and blackish plumage recall its relative, the common swift, from which it is distinguished by a white rump band and heavily marked underparts. The sexes are identical in appearance, although young birds can be identified by pale fringes to the wing feathers that are absent in adults. This swift's main call is a screech typical of its family. It is one of a group of closely related Asian swifts formerly regarded as one species.
Belostomatidae is a family of freshwater hemipteran insects known as giant water bugs or colloquially as toe-biters, Indian toe-biters, electric-light bugs, alligator ticks, or alligator fleas. They are the largest insects in the order Hemiptera. There are about 170 species found in freshwater habitats worldwide, with more than 110 in the Neotropics, more than 20 in Africa, almost as many in the Nearctic, and far fewer elsewhere. These predators are typically encountered in freshwater ponds, marshes and slow-flowing streams. Most species are at least 2 cm (0.8 in) long, although smaller species, down to 0.9 cm (0.35 in), also exist. The largest are members of the genus Lethocerus, which can exceed 12 cm (4.5 in) and nearly reach the length of some of the largest beetles in the world. Giant water bugs are a popular food in parts of Asia.
The Xyelidae are a comparatively species-poor family of sawflies, comprising about 80 extant species in five genera worldwide, and is the only family in the superfamily Xyeloidea. The fossil record of the family is extensive, comprising more than 120 species and including the oldest fossil Hymenoptera species dating back to the Triassic, between 245 and 208 million years ago. Xyelidae are to be regarded as living fossils since they represent one of the oldest lineages of insects and include still extant forms.
The Celyphidae, commonly known as beetle flies or beetle-backed flies, are a family of flies. About 115 species in about 9 genera are known chiefly from the Oriental and Afrotropic biogeographic regions with one lineage in the New World.
The University of Hawaiʻi Press is a university press that is part of the University of Hawaiʻi.
Dilbert Elmo Hardy was an American entomologist who specialized in Diptera systematics.
Lucy Evelyn Cheesman was a British entomologist and traveller. Between 1924 and 1952, Cheesman went on 8 solo expeditions in the South Pacific, and collected over 70,000 specimens, which she accompanied with sketches and notes. These are now part of the collections of the Natural History Museum in London. Cheesman published extensively about her work and travels. In 1955, she was appointed an OBE for her services to science.
Elwood Curtin Zimmerman was an American entomologist best known for his two multivolume series: Insects of Hawaii published by the University of Hawaiʻi Press and Australian Weevils published by Australia's CSIRO.
Machaerotidae are a family of bugs in the superfamily Cercopoidea which were formerly placed within Cercopidae. They are sometimes called tube-forming spittle-bugs as the nymphs form a calcareous tube within which they live. These bugs are mainly found in the Old World tropics. The adults of many genera have a long, free and spine-like process originating from the scutellum and thus superficially similar to the tree-hoppers, Membracidae. The tegmen or forewing, like typical bugs of the suborder Heteroptera, always has a distinct, membranous apical area.
Crataerina is a genus of louse flies in the family Hippoboscidae. All are parasites of birds, feeding on the blood of various species of Apodidae (swifts) and Hirundinidae. The genus is sometimes spelled Craterina.
Hippobosca is a genus of flies in the family Hippoboscidae. There are seven known species. There are numerous synonyms.
Melophagus is a genus of biting flies in the family of louse flies, Hippoboscidae. There are three known species and one subspecies. All are parasites of bovids. All are wingless.
Phthona is a genus of biting flies in the family of louse flies, Hippoboscidae. There are 3 known species. All are parasite of falconets of the genus Microhierax.
Ornithoica are a genus of biting flies in the family of louse flies, Hippoboscidae. There are 23 known species. All species are parasites of birds.
Ornithomya are genus of biting flies in the family of louse flies, Hippoboscidae. There are 29 known species. All species are parasites of birds.
Ornithophila are a genus of biting flies in the family of louse flies, Hippoboscidae. There are two known species. Both species are parasites of birds.
Charles Howard Curran was a Canadian entomologist who specialized in Diptera. Curran's main taxonomic interests were in brachyceran flies, particularly the flower flies Syrphidae, in which he described 723 species. He described 2,648 species over his career. He was active in the study of insect control. His 1934 work The Families and Genera of North American Diptera was an important and comprehensive work on the topic of North American fly genera.
Pacific Insects was a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Entomology Department at the Bishop Museum from 1959 to 1982. It was renamed to International Journal of Entomology in 1983 and discontinued in 1985. It was the organ of the "Zoogeography and Evolution of Pacific Insects" program. It should not be confused with Pacific Insects Monograph, nor with the new International Journal of Entomology, published since 2010 by the International Society of Zoological Research.
Judson Linsley Gressitt was an American entomologist and naturalist who worked in Japan and China. He worked mainly on beetle diversity in Southeast Asia and in applied areas, particularly medical entomology, and was the founder of the journal Pacific Insects and the Wau Ecology Institute in Papua New Guinea. Apart from insects, he collected specimens in numerous taxa and several have been named after him.
Clare Rilloraza Baltazar is a Filipina entomologist. She specializes in systematic entomology and economic entomology. Through her research on Philippine Hymenoptera, Baltazar discovered eight previously undescribed genera and 108 species of parasitic wasps. Her work on Hymenoptera was important to future biological pest control in the Philippines. She was named a National Scientist of the Philippines in 2001.
